Working notes, observations, links and other errata from a parliamentary bureau reporter in Ottawa, Canada.

Rules about comments

1. Respect – Everybody has a right to his/her opinion and nobody is perfect, thus respect other people's comments
and ideas. You can always argue intelligently, but keep it respectful.

2. The following lists the terms, messages and/or content that shall not be tolerated:

Vulgarities;

Offensive, slanderous, obscene and/or insulting comments;

Threats and harassment;

Personal attacks;

Discriminatory, racist and/or sexist comments;

Comments that incite to violence and/or hatred;

Comments that have nothing to do with the thread and that are destined solely for provocation;

Comments that divulge personal and confidential information that allow for the identification of a person other than yourself;

Lack of respect towards another member, an administrator and/or moderator;

Comments provided in a language other than English;

Comments that are written in upper case, which are the web equivalent of shouting; and

Posting the same message in repetition.

3. It is forbidden to engage in any form of illegal activity, most notably the unauthorised copying and distribution
of software, content, pictures, and images. It is also forbidden to twist the space reserved for comments into
propaganda and/or solicitation and/or use the space to pursue a political, professional and/or commercial agenda.

4. The content of the blogs, notes and text comments, pictures, sounds and videos must not contravene to moral
ethics, public order, and laws and rules in effect in addition to being under the sole responsibility of the
author. Moreover, you must at all time make sure that your posts are free of any legal limitation and that they do
not infringe upon the rights of others, notably copyright.

5. At all time, you must respect public order as well as the rules and laws in effect.

6. Do not forget that nobody is anonymous over the internet. The IP addresses are recorded for security purposes and we shall not hesitate to retrieve them to reprimand those who threaten others or who do not show any respect towards others. Furthermore, it is prudent that you protect yourself by not divulging any personal or nominative information.

7. These rules are designed to ensure a respectful and pleasant communication environment.

8. 1.Have fun!

The CANOE Network, the parent companies or affiliates and affiliated companies on the CANOE Sites reserve the right
to suspend access and distribution of a blog or comment in part or in its entirety that contravenes the aforementioned
rules and ask that the author delete the content that obviously infringes upon the rules of conduct or is subject to a
claim by a third party. If a person continues to send messages that do not respect the policies surrounding the Blog,
a notice shall be sent to the person directly and the person's access privileges or membership shall be revoked. If an
ex-member or a guest continues to post messages that infringe upon the policy, the privileges associated with the
person's participation on the Blog shall be revoked.

The CANOE Network, the parent companies or affiliates and affiliated companies on the CANOE Sites assume no
responsibility with respect to the content and opinions conveyed on this Blog or its comments. The comments are
under the sole responsibility of their authors and the CANOE Network does not endorse the intent or judgment that may
be present in them. The CANOE Network, the parent companies or affiliates and affiliated companies on the CANOE
Sites reserve the right, at their discretion, to edit those messages that do not respect the rules of netiquette or
to reject or to remove the message's content that violates the aforementioned rules and rules of good conduct. The
CANOE Network may also suspend a Blog or a space where comments are posted at any time, without prior notice. Thanks
for your cooperation.

Disclosure and fine print from David Akin

The posts on this blog were created and maintained by David Akin while he was the national bureau chief for Sun Media and host of Battleground on Sun News Network.

Akin received no fees, considerations, etc. for the posts on this blog other than the salary paid to him by Sun Media and Sun News Network. Sun News Network closed on Feb. 13, 2015 and Akin left the company.
Both those companies are/were owned by Quebecor Inc. As a publicly traded Canadian company, Quebecor must disclose financial and other information. You can monitor those disclosures at Quebecor's Web site.
Quebecor announced in 2014 that it was selling Sun Media to Postmedia Inc. That transaction was expected to close in the spring of 2015.

You may see advertisements at this blog. I have no control over the placement or selection of that advertising. Both Sun Media and Sun News Network earned the money to pay Akin's salary and the costs of hosting this blog by selling advertising.

At the time of his departure from the company, Akin was not, nor has he ever been during his 30 years as a professional journalist, a member of any political party. No member of his immediate family is a member of or campaigns on behalf of any political party. Neither Akin nor anyone in his immediate family own shares or equity in any corporation or business, my employer's included. Any investments I have are in widely-held mutual funds.